Device for winding decorative ribbon into hanks



Oct. l2, 1954 J. F. wlLLlG Erm.

DEVICE FOR WINDING DECORATIVE RIBBON INTO HANKS Filed Dec. 21, 41950Patented Oct. 12, 1954 that DEVICE FOR WINDING DECORATIVE RIBBON INTOHANKS J une F. Willig and Ellen K. McGee, St. Paul, Minn.

Application December 21, 1950, Serial No. 202,048

This invention relates to the art of gift-wrapping packages and providesa novel device whereby the decorative pompon bows customarily used ongift packages may be easily and quickly fabricated by a housewife orother person who has had little or no previous experience in making suchbows.

In recent years the gift-wrapping of packages has become a highlycommercialized business. Various manufacturers have placed many new andattractive wrapping papers, decorative ribbons and the like on themarket, and the various womens magazines very frequently featurearticles promoting these new materials and new techniques for their use.One of the basic techniques which has been promoted, and which is nowused in almost all gift wrapping of packages, is the ornamental pomponbow, fashioned from many loops of decorative ribbon to resemble a tuftedball. Such pompon bows are often illustrated in magazine articles of thetype above referred to, the housewife then being given directions formaking them. Unfortunately, however, it has heretofore been verydiiilcult for a person, who only infrequently has occasion to do giftwrapping and thus has no particular skill in such procedure, to make upa bow which even approaches the illustrated bows in symmetry and generalattractiveness. i

One of the preliminary steps in making such bows is to wind a suitablelength of decorative ribbon into a hank or coil. This hank or coil isthen tied around its center and the end loops thereof are pulled apartand arranged to give a ball-like or generally spheroidal effect to thefinished bow. It is very important in the fabrication of these bows thatthe hank be of suitable length for the package on which it is to be usedand that the loops of the hank, after it is tied as above described, beof substantially equal length, so that when spread apart they will givethe desired spheroidal effect.

Heretofore, people wrapping gifts, for lack of any device for thepurpose, have customarily wound such hanks about any object close athand, with the result that the coil is more likely than not to be ofimproper size for the desired purpose. Further, the wound hank is noteasily removable from the object about which it has been wound. Toovercome this latter difficulty, many l 1 Claim. (Cl. 22S- 46) thatreason. Furthermore, it is diicult to keep the hank the desired lengthwhen it is wrapped about the fingers.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device 1. Whereby anyindividual can quickly wind hanks of various widths of ribbon for makingdecorative bows;

2. Which is adjustable so that diiferent length hanks, as desired, maybe wound upon it;

3. Which is very simple mechanically so that it can be easily used andadjusted by the individual; v

4. Which can be produced at a cost low enough to warrant its sale at alow figure or its distribution free with the purchase of a quantity ofribbon.

Other objects and advantages of the instant invention will be apparentfrom the following detailed description and from the accompanyingdrawing, in which Figure l is a side elevational view of the device inassembled form Figure 2 is a plan View of sembled form Figure 3 is across-sectional view along line 3 3 in Figure 1 Figure 4 is across-sectional view along line 4 4 in Figure 1 Figure 5 is across-sectional view along line 5--5 in Figure 1 Referring now ingreater detail to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the deviceof the instant invention, as illustrated, comprises a straight member 2and a generally L-shaped member indicated by the reference character t.For convenience of description, the base of said member 3 is designated3a and the longer arm thereof is designated 3b. One end portion ofmember 2 is of substantially greater thickness than arm 3b and isprovided at said thicker end with slot 4 extending transversely of thewidth of member 2. Said slot 4 is of a size which will snuglyaccommodate arm 3b, and, in assembly, said arm 3b is inserted withinsaid slot, to form the assembled device shown in Figure i. The portionof base 3a and of member 2 extending upwardly from arm 3b then providesupporting arms about which a strip of decorative ribbon maybe woundinto. a hank. Member 2, when in position perpendicular to arm 3b, isfreely slidable along the length thereof, to provide for varying of thedistance between member 2 and base 3a so that hanks of different lengthsmay be Wound. However, when a hank is actually the device in asthe the

the

being wound about the ends of base 3a and member 2, the tension of theribbon on member 2 will tip it slightly off the perpendicular, towardbase 3a, with the result that arm 2 will lock in place by reason of thefrictional contact between the edges of member 3b and the portions ofarm 2 forming the top and bottom cf slot 4. Arm 2 Will not slide towardarm 3a, therefore, when a hank is being wound.

Stamped upon the outward face of arm 3b, and recessed very slightly fromthe surface thereof, is a series of numbers 5, spaced aninch apart and2, 3, 4, etc., inches from the outwardly facing edge of arm 3a. Saidnumbers provide means for setting the device so that a hank of thedesired length may be Wound. The section of member 2 overlying saidnumbers 5, when the device is assembled, may be provided with window 6so that numbers 5 will be visible and member 2 may thus be accuratelyadjusted to the desired distance from base 3a.

Members 2 and 3, comprising the device of' this invention, may be madeof any sturdy, relatively iniiexible material such as sheet metal, wood,Celluloid, or even heavy weight cardboard. However, for convenience ofmanufacture, combined with low cost and attractive appearance, we preferto manufacture the device from plastic material.

Arm 3b is preferably channeled along its length and ends, as indicatedby the reference character 1, to provide the desirable rigidity in themember Without materially increasing its weight, or the quantity ofplastic material required for its manufacture.

Arm 3a and member 2 should desirably be at least three inches in lengthso that they will accommodate ribbon up to about 2*/2 inches wide eventhough it is only infrequently that ribbon that wide is made into bows.Arm 3b should be sufliciently long to permit the Winding of a hank '7inches in length. Of course these dimensions are merely preferred andmay be changed without departing from the spirit of our invention.

The particular styling of the device, as shown, for instance the shapingand tapering outer edges of arm 3a and member 2 are useful in reducingthe amount of plastic material used in the manufacture of the device aswell as in giving it a desirable modern appearance but it will of coursebe obvious that the styling of the device could be changed so that itmight have quite a different appearance without departing from theprinciple thereof. Such style modifications should be understood to beWithin the scope and spirit of this invention. It will of course beunderstood that the device of this invention is suitable for use inwinding strip material other than decorative ribbon into hanks; forexample, it is adapted for winding string or yarn into hanks for use inmaking shag rugs, or for making yarn pompons.

It is believed that the operation and use of this invention has beenfully described and disclosed inthe foregoing description. Having thusdescribed the invention and illustrated its use what we claim is:

A device for winding decorative ribbon into hanks for conversion intoornamental bows, comprising a rigid L-shaped member and a rigid straightmember, the longer arm of said L-shaped member beingl channeled toprovide a flange along each longitudinal edge thereof, the shorter armof said L-shaped member tapering in width as it extends away from saidlonger arm and also tapering in thickness from its inner longitudinaledge to its outer longitudinal edge, one end of said straight memberbeing provided with a iiat ring, the longer arm of said L-shaped memberbeing inserted through said ring, and being freely slidable therein, oneface of saidvring being provided with an aperture through which thesurface of said longer arm will be visible, said surface carryingnumerical designations of measurement, said straight member tapering inwidth from its apertured end toward its other end, and. also tapering inthickness from its inner longi tudinal edge toward its outerlongitudinal edge, the longer arm of said L-shaped member being providedwith protuberances spaced apart in accordance with said numericaldesignation of measurement, the inner surface of said iiat ring engagingsaid protuberances to hold said straight member in any desired fixedposition on the longer arm of said L-shaped member, the shorter arm ofsaid L-shaped member and said straight member providing supports for thewinding of a hank of ribbon.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,215,059 Ventimiglia Sept. 17, 1940 2,529,708 Schussel Nov.14, 1950 2,542,222 Welch Feb. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 440,400 Germany Feb. 4, 1927

